Once Ichika firmed that the private points had been received, Hikaru turo Ibuki.

  "Don't worry. Since you've all paid, I won't go bay word."

  "Here, this notebook tains all the hidden rules. We've written dowhing iail."

  He handed over the unused notebook from the previous day to Ibuki, then smiled.

  "Well, our business is done. You read it yourselves—no need for me to stick around."

  "What do you mean? You're just going to hand us a notebook and leave?"

  Ibuki, sensing Hikaru was about to slip away after taking their points, immediately raised her voice.

  "We just paid you a million points, and you're just going to walk out after handing us a notebook?"

  "But the rules are all written in there, aren't they? It doesn't really matter whether I stay or not. Unless… you guys 't read?"

  Hikaru had no i in lingering any longer. After orchestrating this eborate pn, he had finally recovered the full three million points. Now, all he wanted was some well-earned rest.

  "You—!"

  The short-haired girl was infuriated by Hikaru's nont attitude, but she had no way to force him to stay.

  At that moment, Iose stepped in to mediate.

  "Ibuki, don't get upset. We still have things to do. The rules are clearly written down—you just read them."

  She, of course, had no desire for Hikaru to remain here any longer. All she wanted was to leave with him as soon as possible.

  Ibuki turo g the notebook. As she flipped through the pages and saw the detailed handwritten notes, she fell silent.

  Indeed, everything was thhly recorded. It would be just as effective for her to expin it to the css herself.

  "Ibuki, we'll be going now."

  "Fine. Just don't e b us again."

  Ibuki waved them off impatiently, frustration evident in her expression.

  Although she disliked Hikaru's maniputive tactics, she couldn't help but aowledge his ability. The timestamp oransa receipt revealed something that truly shocked her—he had purchased the school's hidden rules on the very first day of enrollment.

  To act so quickly and decisively, possessing both insight and an iron grip oion—this guy was dangerous.

  She had a feeling she'd be hearing his name a lot more iure.

  "See you around, Ibuki."

  Iose g Ibuki's plicated expression and offered a polite farewell before following Hikaru out of Css C's .

  Finally, after all the effort they had put in sihe beginning of the school term, the point recovery pn had e to a close.

  Now, it was time to share the good news with the rest of Css B.

  ---

  Meanwhile, in Css C, Ibuki and Hiyori began reading through the tents of the notebook.

  As they read, their expressions gradually hardened.

  Oion after a was more shog than they had imagined.

  "This… is insane."

  Hiyori, usually calm and posed, had a rare look of on her face. As she finished reading the rules, she immediately thought back to the two people who had just left.

  They had known about these rules sihe first day of school. Yet, they had chosen to sell the information at half price.

  Why?

  Was there another motive behind their seemingly generous offer?

  "Ibuki, do you remember the transa receipt from earlier?"

  "You mean the ohat showed they khe school's rules from the very first day?"

  Ibuki was quick to grasp what Hiyori was implying.

  "If Hikaru and his group knew about these hidden rules from the start, then the pn to get Ryuen suspended must have had deeper motives behind it."

  Hiyori poi a specifie iebook.

  "For example, the dedu system for Css Points—if a student is suspehe penalty is far more severe than using a phone in css or chatting during lessons."

  "That bastard… he ying us from the start!"

  The realization hit Ibuki like a ton of bricks. She ched her fists in frustration.

  She had been used.

  Ryuen's suspension had multiple sequences.

  First, Css Points. If the notebook was correct, then a suspension likely resulted in a heavy dedu, further widening the gap between Css d Css B.

  Sed, leadership vacuum. With Ryuen gone, Hikaru had a perfect opportunity to sell the hidden rules without fag his interference.

  Once Css C fully uood the school's ranking system and the y of css petition, they would be forced to restrain Ryuen's behavior iure.

  As the Css Representative, Ibuki now had to shoulder that responsibility.

  "Damn it! He must have phis from the beginning, just to set us against Ryuen!"

  Ibuki gritted her teeth in frustration. The current situation was a plete mess.

  When Ryueurned, he would undoubtedly try to recim his authority over Css C. Right now, her cssmates were on her side—but once everyone processed these rules, their opinions might ge.

  After all, Ryuen wasn't someone whose as could be predicted by normal logic.

  If he mao frame his return as an effort to "help the css," it was entirely possible some students would switch allegiances.

  "Don't worry, Ibuki."

  Hiyori, the turmoil on Ibuki's face, spoke softly.

  "Your cssmates support you. Yamada and I are on your side, too."

  "...Really?"

  "No matter what Ryuen does, we'll face it together. After all, I was the one who suggested you as the css representative—I believe in you."

  "Alright. Then we'll wait for that bastard to e back."

  Resolving herself, Ibuki firmly grasped the weight of her role.

  She wasn't alone. She had allies.

  With that, she stepped up to the podium.

  It was time to expin the hidden rules to Css C.

  A storm of revetions was about to sweep through the entire css.

  ---

  Outside the , Hikaru and Iose stood before a vending mae.

  Hikaru was buying a drink while Iose, holding her phone, was chatting with their css group.

  Everyone had already heard the good he final point recovery was a success. Now, they were enthusiastically discussing where to hold a celebratory party.

  Seeing Iose's bright, beaming smile, Hikaru felt a sense of satisfa.

  After all, this pn had been anything but smooth.

  At every step, they had entered obstacles, solved problems, and then faced even more obstacles.

  But they had pushed forward, overing every challenge, and had successfully recimed three million private points.

  With this, they had taken their first real step toward the twenty-million-point pn.

  "How's the discussion going?"

  leaoward Iose, his expression rexed as he inquired about the party pns.

  "Hmm… They're still deg. We've got a few choices, but no sensus yet."

  Ichika giggled as she read through the messages, but then suddenly paused.

  Her cheerful expression flickered with uainty.

  "Hikaru… someone's looking for us."

  "Huh?"

  He turned around.

  Two figures stood in their path.

  "Hikaru-kun, Iose-san. Good afternoon."

  "?!"

  Hikaru's eyes narrowed as he reized the familiar face.

  It was Katsuragi Kōhei.

  And standing beside him was his ever-present follower, Totsuka Yahiko.

  "You guys…"

  Hikaru's expression turned inquisitive.

  He hadn't checked on Css A in a while.

  What were they up to?

  "Would you mind sparing us a moment?" Katsuragi asked politely.

  "There's something we'd like to discuss with you."

  Hikaru exged a gh Iose.

  It seemed the stage of the game was already starting.

  ~~~

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